The Serpent's Veil

The Labyrinth

The hall of private audience was bathed in soft dawn light when the four men gathered around the ashwood table. Sharan was the only one of them who felt the need to sit, his fingers curled around a steaming cup of tea.

Firaz blinked the bleariness from his eyes and cleared his throat. He looked like he had not slept in days. "We worked through the night to clear most of the burned bridges from the aqueduct, Sayyidi, but it will still be days before we can safely bring clean water."

"What of the ministers' men?" said Sharan.

"They will come today, but I am still worried. The wells are almost bled dry from yesterday's hysteria."

Rehan paced the room, considering his response. "Do what you can, Firaz. Encourage people to help each other if the water runs too low."

Sharan nodded his agreement. "The people must band together as one while under siege. Infighting will do us no good." He paused to take a sip of tea. "What is the status of the flags?"

"The white ones have been removed," said Firaz, "Ours are almost ready, but the shortage of men has slowed things down." He bowed his head slightly, as if it were his fault they had fallen into this predicament.

Rehan paused his pacing at the centre of the room. "Good. I want to formally address the people once we hoist the flags."

Yahya pursed his lips. "I still think it is too dangerous to alert everyone."

"It will fill them with hope to know I am here, fighting for them," countered Rehan. "And it will make them less likely to aid the rebels."

Yahya's silence prompted them to move on to the next point of discussion.

"Did you find anything regarding the runner?" asked Sharan.

Rehan shook his head. "No sign of him, the archers saw nothing of note either."

"So it's a dead end."

Yahya looked at Rehan, then at the governor. "This may sound odd, but do you know if there were any tunnels built under Rey?"

The question seemed to shock the old man, but before he could answer, Sharan cut in. "Rey has no tunnels, nothing big enough for a man to fit in if that's what you're implying."

Rehan's brows drew together in confusion. "Did you see something I didn't, Yahya? What are you talking about?"

There was a gleam in the governor's eye, as if he had been invigorated with new light. "There are tunnels," he declared, "A huge network of passages under the city, built long before Al-Saffah took the throne, when my father's father ruled Rey."

Sharan's mouth fell open in disbelief. "Impossible... I was here for six years, I would have heard some whisper, some rumour of such a thing."

Firaz stepped away from the table and went to a cabinet set against the wall. He unlocked it with the key hanging from his neck to reveal a set of oblong shelves filled with long, tightly rolled papers.

He rummaged in the darkness of the cabinet to procure a tattered scroll. He gently tapped it against the cabinet door to slough off the thick layer of dust before returning to the ashwood table.

With utmost care he unrolled the ancient map. The labels were hardly more than smudges and the frayed edges had turned brown, but enough of it had been preserved for them to see the complex labyrinth sketched upon it.

"These tunnels were sealed off by my father, well before any of you came to Rey,"said Firaz. "No one alive knows of their existence apart from me, and now you three."